7/20/2013

Minister Phang Ha-nam attends G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting

Employment and Labor Minister Phang Ha-nam attended the fourth G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting in Moscow, Russia, on July 19th (Fri.) and talked about Korea's employment measures for vulnerable groups at the meeting.

Minister Phang pointed out, "Considering the unprecedented rapid population ageing and the large proportion of vulnerable groups, Korea's low employment rate that has remained stagnant at 63-64% for over a decade is a grave concern."
He said, "The new government changed its policy paradigm, and became the first in history to set out an employment rate, instead of a growth rate, as the key national agenda, and in order to accomplish this, it announced an employment roadmap."

In particular, he said, providing tailored employment service packages to vulnerable groups to support self-reliance through work is of great importance.
He stressed, "Providing welfare-to-work programs for the working poor, women, youth and mature-age people, thus raising their employment rates, is the core element of the roadmap."

< Employment Measures for Vulnerable Groups >
① A benefit system making work pay is being built for the working poor so that they gain more by working than by relying on welfare. The number of service beneficiaries and the quality of services will be actively increased.

② For women, the pressing task is to reduce career breaks among women in their 30s and older. The government will improve relevant systems and create a culture to enable work-life balance. To that end, it will offer a wider range of choices to working mothers, for example by promoting childcare leave and expanding quality daycare centers.

③ To address the mismatch facing young people, the government will actively connect young talent to SMEs. Recruiting practices will be reformed to allow young people to be hired based on enthusiasm and competency regardless of their educational attainment. Meanwhile, the government will help companies play a leading role in fostering a necessary workforce by introducing a dual system that combines work and learning.

④ The government will also help mature-age people consistently develop their skills and stay in their main jobs longer. Such support will be linked to wage reforms, such as the wage peak system, to prevent any lowering of corporate productivity.

During his stay in Russia, Minister Phang also had a meeting with ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder and Germany's Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ursula von der Leyen to discuss how to enhance cooperation in the area of employment and labor.

The fourth G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting was held in Moscow, Russia on July 18th~19th. The meeting was attended by delegates from Russia, the current G20 presidency, and other G20 members and international organizations, including the ILO and the OECD.

The chief delegate of each country gave a speech on major agenda items, such as creating jobs through economic reforms, labor activation for vulnerable groups and labor market monitoring, and a presentation on best practices.

Meanwhile, a joint meeting of G20 employment and finance ministers, proposed by Russia, was held in the afternoon of July 19th. It was also joined by Hyun Oh-seok, Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance.

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